Posts tagged with Payment Processing

Being the 800 pound gorilla of online payments isn't easy. Despite PayPal's ubiquity and the fact that it remains at the forefront of digital payments, including in the rapidly-evolving mobile payments space, the company's reputation is mixed.

Serving millions upon millions of customers isn't a walk in the park, and when something goes wrong with somebody's money, the world is bound to hear about it one way or another.

Technology has disrupted a seemingly countless number of industries over the past decade, from advertising to real estate. When looking at the industries grappling with technology-driven change, however, arguably few have been more affected than the multi-trillion dollar payments space.

The advent of mobile phone, and the smartphone in particular, has created significant opportunities, many of which upstarts like Square are trying to exploit.

The battle between traditional payment processors and financial institutions and upstarts looking to dethrone them is on.

The upstarts, obviously, have their work cut out for them. Entrenched players like Verifone have significant marketshare, and are increasingly employing interesting strategies in an attempt to ensure they always have a seat at the dinner table.

That means one thing: the upstarts have to get clever and creative. And that's just what they're doing.

Much has been made about the market for micropayments over the years, but for the most part, billing for small transactions remains a challenge for online merchants, especially small and mid-size publishers who sell content and virtual goods.

PayPal, however, hopes to provide some relief later this year with a new offering that makes it easier for online merchants to process micropayments cost-effectively.

Online gambling is a hot-button topic in the United States. When it comes to poker, which many argue is a game of skill, the US government considers the game to be illegal.

The US government has been successful in pushing some of the online poker services out of the American market. For instance, it drove out PartyGaming and Playtech, both of which are publicly-traded in the UK, and collected a hefty fine from PartyGaming.